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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27808801">It Hurts</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tgaret990/pseuds/Tgaret990'>Tgaret990</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>All Elite Wrestling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adam's in the tunnel but he's SEEN, Adam-Centric, Angst with a Happy Ending, He doesn't deserve to be alone, Hugging, Imagine talking about your feelings even if it's not everything but it's a start, Kenny is a good-ish boyfriend?, M/M, Poor Adam, Post-Tag Title match, So I made sure he wasn't, Starting Over, The Bucks and Adam are willing to try and work things out, The Elite COMMUNICATE, The Elite are actually going to be fine, The night of All Out, hurt/comfort?, not my best work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 08:28:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,144</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27808801</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tgaret990/pseuds/Tgaret990</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Every moment away from them—the people closest to him, the people he cared about, his family—hurts, and he doesn’t know what to do about it. Could he do anything about it? Would it matter if he even tried?</p><p>Adam stands in the tunnel, watching Kenny and the Bucks celebrate after the tag match with FTR the night of All Out. He plans on turning away, leaving and distancing himself for good. Kenny's the one who stops him. The Bucks are the ones who bridge the gap. Adam's the one who hangs on. The four of them won't let go this time.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kenny Omega/Adam Page, Matt Jackson &amp; Nick Jackson &amp; Kenny Omega &amp; Adam Page</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>29</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>It Hurts</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It Hurts</p><p> </p><p>A/N: Inspired by wrestling Twitter. Someone made the claim that The Elite would have welcomed Adam into the ring with them after the Bucks’ win at All Out, but Adam chose to distance himself instead of continue trying to fix things. Instead of an angsty, depressing tale to match that, have some fix-it instead. Not my best work, but I hope you still enjoy it!</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>     It hurts. It hurts him so fucking much he can barely stand it. Adam watched a monitor backstage, watched Cash completely miss a 450 (and when could he do that?!) and get a superkick to the head for his troubles. He watched the ref count to three, heard the Bucks’ music hit as they were handed their titles. Adam wanted to cry, not that he was particularly proud to admit it. As much heartache as the last year had brought him, Matt and Nick had still been good friends. They’d worked so hard for this moment. He was happy for them, even if he couldn’t tell them that himself.</p><p> </p><p>     And then Kenny had to walk by.</p><p> </p><p>     Kenny was heading towards the ring, not paying anyone else any mind, speeding past Adam without so much as a glance. And that hurt just a little bit more. Kenny cared. Adam knew he did. In the ring, when Kenny had reached out after the bell, had whispered <em> I’m sorry </em> beforehand. Kenny cared about him… But he cared about the Bucks more. There should never have been any doubt there, and yet… Why had he been dumb enough to think them tagging together could change that?</p><p> </p><p>     The team had brought them closer, closer than Adam ever thought they could be. Despite his drinking, his wallowing, his mistakes… Kenny stayed. Kenny looked after him, worried about him, talked with him. And some nights it seemed like they were more. The tender, loving (if he could dare to call them that) looks, gentle touches, soft kisses, sweet nothings… And the mornings after were nothing but wonderful, a shy, worried Kenny asking if the night before had been alright, if he wasn’t taking things the wrong way. The answer never really changed. <em> Last night was more than anything I could ever ask for. Of course you’re not taking things the wrong way. I’d tell you if you were, I promise. </em> They’d never said <em> those </em> words to each other, but he figured… Maybe they would one day?</p><p> </p><p>     That was before they’d lost the titles of course, before everything they’d built together had come crumbling down around them because he couldn’t keep his shoulders off the mat for three seconds. Kenny had become a bit distant then. They’d stopped rooming together, didn’t hang out as much. Kenny had said he needed space, and Adam wanted to respect that. It didn’t make those lonely nights any easier, the ones where it was just him and a bottle of Jack Daniels or whatever he could swipe from the bar. Kenny always seemed to know when he needed him though, more than one well timed text asking him if he was still awake, if he was okay, if he had a minute to talk when he was a few seconds away from downing the bottle and calling it a night. Things weren’t as bad as they seemed if all you knew about it was from what you saw on Dynamite and BTE, he guessed.</p><p> </p><p>     But it still hurts. Every moment away from them—the people closest to him, the people he cared about, his <b> <em>family</em> </b>—hurts, and he doesn’t know what to do about it. Could he do anything about it? Would it matter if he even tried? He looked in the direction Kenny had gone, swallowing nervously as his thoughts, previously racing, finally slowed down, until he could pinpoint the one at the forefront of his mind. He moved without thinking, only concerned with seeing the Bucks with his own eyes, even if he couldn’t go out there with them. He found himself standing in the shadows of one of the tunnels, Kenny hugging the Bucks in the middle of the ring, the three celebrating like they always did: The Elite, holding gold, together, a unit, friends ‘til the end.</p><p> </p><p>     He wanted to go out there. He wanted so badly to be able to reach out to them and apologize for everything he’d caused. Even if they’d done plenty to him that he deserved an apology for too… If he could just hug them one last time…</p><p> </p><p>     Adam didn’t expect Kenny to turn around. He didn’t expect him to look his way and freeze, in front of everyone out there. He felt more eyes looking his way from the wrestlers in the crowd. Then Matt and Nick turned around. Fuck. What did he do?</p><p> </p><p>     “Adam?” he heard Kenny call out. Oh no, now Kenny was leaving the ring, Matt and Nick looking on in confusion. Adam took a step back, wanting nothing more than to teleport to his hotel room so he could at least have some peace and quiet around him, maybe drown in his self-deprecating thoughts if he didn’t drown in whiskey or something else. Kenny hurried forward, a panicked look on his face. “No, wait!”</p><p> </p><p>     Kenny was holding out his hand. To him. Adam froze.</p><p> </p><p>     Why? <em> Why? </em></p><p> </p><p>     “Adam, <b> <em>please,”</em> </b> Kenny told him.</p><p> </p><p>     <em> Fuck. </em> He knew he could never tell Kenny no when he got like that. Hesitantly, Adam emerged from the tunnel, looking absolutely awful barring the hopeful spark in his eyes as he nervously took Kenny’s hand. Kenny let out a relieved laugh, his smile bright and so deeply happy that words couldn’t do it justice. He led them to the ring, letting go of Adam’s hand as they came face to face with the Bucks. Adam didn’t know what to say now that he was here. Sorry didn’t cut it, not by a long shot. Everyone was watching them. What could he say that wouldn’t get him chewed out before he even had a chance to really talk to them? He felt Kenny’s hand brush his, looked over to see him standing right beside him.</p><p> </p><p>     Beside… Him. Not Matt and Nick. <b> <em>Him.</em> </b></p><p> </p><p>     Even with Kenny by his side… Would that be enough? Could the Bucks ever look at him like they once did? Could they ever really be friends again? Could they ever start over? And if they couldn’t… Would Kenny leave him again? He looked back at them, trying to find the words.</p><p> </p><p>     <em> “Please,” </em> he whispered desperately, and nothing could have prepared him for the next moment.</p><p> </p><p>     Matt and Nick… Were hugging him. They were <em> hugging him. </em> And then Kenny was there, hugging him too.</p><p> </p><p>     And it <b> <em>hurt.</em> </b></p><p> </p><p>     It hurt that so much had happened that they’d lost so many moments like this. It hurt that the tensions between them had gotten so high, so volatile, that he thought he’d lost this forever. He was so intent on finally walking away, pulling himself away from their lives and just… Seeing where his narrow, cracked road would take him. He would’ve just stood there a little while longer and left before they could spot him, grab a bottle from the bar, the usual.</p><p> </p><p>     But <b>they</b> <b><em>hugged him.</em></b></p><p> </p><p>     And he was crying, hugging them back with everything he had left in him.</p><p> </p><p>     “We need to talk,” Matt told him over the roar of the small crowd as they all pulled back.</p><p> </p><p>     “We do! I mean, if you—If that’s okay…”</p><p> </p><p>     He saw them picking up the tag titles from the mat. Wait, had they put them down to…? Adam felt like he was in a dream, an impossible, unreal, too good to be true dream. He watched them leave the ring first, holding the titles up to the crowd before turning and looking back towards him. He looked over at Kenny, who was holding the ropes open for him, gesturing for him to go first. Kenny, who was giving him the most gentle, reassuring smile. Adam went through the ropes, Kenny right behind him, and the four of them went backstage together. </p><p> </p><p>     The Bucks continued onward towards the EVP locker room. Adam and Kenny hung back behind them, Kenny taking Adam’s hand in his. Adam met his soft, warm gaze, unable to help the small gasp that left him. Kenny blushed, averted his eyes guiltily.</p><p> </p><p>     “I’m sorry I left. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.” Why was Kenny apologizing?!</p><p> </p><p>     “You had every right to leave me. You didn’t have to check up on me or even be around me after Full Gear… But you did, and you were. Don’t say sorry.”</p><p> </p><p>     “But I made it seem like I didn’t want anything to do with you, that I was trying to break away, and I wasn’t.”</p><p> </p><p>     “You needed the space. You needed to focus on you. I know.” Kenny huffed in frustration as they entered the room after the Bucks, taking a seat in a few empty chairs.</p><p> </p><p>     “You’ve had to deal with everything alone. I know how your mind works. You look like you haven’t slept in weeks.” He hadn’t really. Was it that obvious? “You weren’t even going to go out there until I said something, were you?” Adam looked away. Was that obvious too?</p><p> </p><p>     “Adam, we… We’ve all done… Awful, awful things. We, Nick and I, have said things we’re not proud of. We’ve done things we aren’t proud of either. We didn’t listen to you. Didn’t even give you a chance to explain anything. We were just… So angry. We were so done with not getting where we wanted to.”</p><p> </p><p>     “You didn’t deserve any of that. You wanted out, and we couldn’t even give you that. We couldn’t even try to understand,” Nick continued.</p><p> </p><p>     “I’m guilty too,” Adam told them. “I was… Such a dick, to all three of you. I was worried about myself, and I was selfish, and I was fine with just going along with everything and moping and hoping things might suddenly get better instead of actually <b>doing</b> something, instead of creating more problems.”</p><p> </p><p>     “And I was too busy worrying about what <b>I</b> wanted to realize the bigger problems at hand,” Kenny added. “Defending the titles, keeping The Elite together, feeling relevant. Where did it get me? Where did it get us? At each other’s throats, more divided than we’ve ever been. I wasn’t any help. If anything, I enabled things instead.” Kenny sighed. “God, we’ve been idiots.”</p><p> </p><p>     “Can we start over?” Adam asked. “Can we just… Try and figure this shit out… Without hating each other this time?” Nick looked to him for a moment, searching his eyes for a sign, and grinned.</p><p> </p><p>     “I think we can handle that.”</p><p> </p><p>     “There’s still so much we haven’t even touched on that we need to later,” Matt began, sounding a little agitated. He took a deep breath. “But I’m tired of fighting. I’m tired of hurting. So, yeah. Let’s start over.”</p><p> </p><p>     Adam’s eyes went wide, and he nodded as he let it start to sink in. Okay. <b>Okay.</b></p><p> </p><p>     “Room service, just us four? Like old times?” Kenny asked hopefully. That got a chuckle out of everyone. They’d had quite a few wild, silly nights way back when…</p><p> </p><p>     “Who’s paying?” Nick asked.</p><p> </p><p>     “We’ll split it,” Adam told him.</p><p> </p><p>     “You’re not gonna order half the menu again, are you?” Matt asked.</p><p> </p><p>     “Hey! That was one time, and I think I deserved that cheat meal after putting on a seven star match, okay?” Kenny defended.</p><p> </p><p>     The four of them ended up back at the hotel, near empty room service plates scattered across tables and desks, Matt and Nick on one bed and Kenny and Adam on the other. Kenny and Adam were tangled in the sheets, Adam holding Kenny from behind in his arms as the Bucks took their turn sharing a story from being on the road. Kenny gasped, pushing his hips back as Adam shifted to be more comfortable, Adam pressing a soft kiss to Kenny’s neck and pushing back. Nick smirked knowingly, Matt still telling the story, and Adam blushed, directing a playful glare his way.</p><p> </p><p>     Things weren’t quite how they used to be. It would take a long time before things were even close. The air was still a bit uneasy and tense. There was still space between them in the room. What used to be comfortable habits between friends were now marred with hesitance and uncertainty. But it was a start.</p><p> </p><p>     Kenny kissed one of Adam’s hands, making Matt pause, gaze soft and smile genuine, for a moment before continuing. Nick outrageously mimed the two of them making out, and Adam hid his face in Kenny’s curls in embarrassment. Kenny chuckled, and Adam was unable to help the lovestruck smile on his face. He let himself just enjoy the moment and <b>feel</b>.</p><p> </p><p>     He was home.</p>
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